Ch.54I wish it were so! (3)

#054

“On what grounds?”

As Dexter moved away from Jesse and crossed his arms, Jesse started to speak but hesitated briefly.

“Hey, don’t tell any other guards about this, seriously.”

“What’s the big deal?”

“Promise me, promise.”

Jesse held up his pinky finger, and Dexter snickered at the childish gesture.

“What are we, elementary school kids?”

“Come on, just do it already!”

‘She can be quite childish sometimes.’

Dexter reluctantly hooked his pinky finger with Jesse’s.

“There, done. So what is it?”

“You really won’t tell anyone?”

Seeing Jesse repeatedly seeking confirmation, Dexter spoke in a low voice.

“You know, you have a knack for getting on people’s nerves.”

Dexter clicked his tongue, and Jesse looked around once more before speaking.

“Actually, we make moonshine.”

“…In prison, you make alcohol? The inmates?”

Guards were generally aware that inmates brewed alcohol. However, unless they got drunk and confronted guards or mismanaged the brewing process causing food poisoning, most guards turned a blind eye.

But openly admitting to it was another matter entirely.

Dexter chuckled incredulously at Jesse’s confession of criminal activity.

“That’s why I said don’t tell anyone!”

“Good grief.”

Dexter, in his first year working at the prison, couldn’t understand how inmates managed to make alcohol.

“Forget the making part, how did you not get caught?”

“That’s why it’s a secret. If the alcohol gets confiscated, I’m blaming you.”

“Fine, I’ll keep my mouth shut. So what happened after you made the alcohol?”

Dexter asked with an exasperated tone, and Jesse replied with her hands in her pockets.

“We made some really good stuff this year. We even borrowed yeast from the kitchen lady.”

“Oh, nice connection.”

“…I swear, if you rat us out, you’re dead.”

“I said I won’t, seriously. Just get to the point.”

Dexter spoke with an irritated voice as the story kept getting interrupted.

“Damn. I’ll kill you if the alcohol gets confiscated. Anyway, we made it well this month too and put it in plastic bags to ferment, planning to drink it together secretly.”

“And?”

“But the plastic bag with the alcohol disappeared.”

“What does that have to do with Emily getting beaten up?”

“Only Marcy, who shares a room with Emily, knew where the plastic bag was kept.”

Dexter tried to recall who Marcy was and remembered an inmate with tattoos all over her body, a stocky build, and a pale complexion.

“Ah, the one who looks like a butch lesbian.”

“Yeah, that’s her. And she actually is a lesbian. Anyway, Marcy went ballistic, demanding to know who stole the plastic bag.”

Up to this point, it was a common enough story.

“The problem is, Emily entered the common room smelling of alcohol.”

“Ah, that’s where she got caught.”

At Dexter’s words, Jesse pointed at him lightly and said:

“Exactly. But the issue is there was no evidence. Just circumstantial.”

Dexter could guess where this was heading.

“So they beat Emily up to make her confess.”

“But Emily didn’t say a single word.”

Jesse mimicked Marcy by throwing punches in the air.

“Then another problem arose.”

“What problem?”

“A few days later, the alcohol that Emily supposedly drank was found again. In the same place where Marcy had hidden it.”

“What the hell?”

Jesse nodded in agreement with Dexter’s bewildered expression and paced around him as she spoke.

“Indeed, who stole it? Why put it back without drinking it? Why didn’t Emily say anything?”

After posing these questions, Jesse shrugged.

“Nobody knows. But my theory is this.”

Jesse suddenly turned toward Dexter as she walked around.

Dexter signaled with his eyes for her to continue.

“Emily really did steal the alcohol. But she doesn’t like alcohol. So she didn’t drink it, just hid it somewhere else to see Marcy’s reaction.”

“Why would she want to see that reaction?”

“How should I know? I’m not Emily. Maybe for fun? In prison, the only safe things to steal are illegal items.”

When illegal items are stolen, there’s obviously nowhere to report it, and all one can do is ask around.

Dexter understood that point but challenged Jesse’s theory.

“If someone can perfectly steal and hide alcohol, why would they let themselves smell of it?”

“Who knows? Maybe the bag leaked and she couldn’t clean it up in time. Anyway, she had no use for the alcohol and didn’t want to drink it, so she returned it to Marcy.”

It was a theory with many holes.

“So, Jesse, did you have something stolen from you?”

“No, nothing.”

Dexter laughed incredulously at Jesse’s confident answer.

“Then how can you be so sure Emily has kleptomania? What’s her crime anyway?”

“But there’s no other explanation. Especially since she’s ‘Old Folks.'”

Given Emily’s history of stealing only vintage cars while wearing a Fawkes mask, Jesse’s theory might make sense.

Still, Dexter shook his head at the incomprehensible behavior of stealing alcohol only to return it without drinking it.

“That still doesn’t make sense.”

It seemed like something only a crazy person would do.

“I’m telling you, she’s meticulous but sloppy. It’s true!”

“How can someone be both meticulous and sloppy?”

When Dexter wouldn’t believe her, Jesse frowned and started swinging her fists.

“Damn it!”

“Look at you, now you’re swinging fists at a guard?”

Dexter lightly pushed Jesse’s head away, and Jesse stomped her foot on the ground in anger.

“Come on, believe me! She got caught for something really stupid in the first place.”

“How was she caught?”

“She asked a police officer disguised as a fortune teller if her next car theft would go well, and got arrested on the spot.”

Hearing an unexpected voice from behind, Dexter turned to see Emily, who had returned from the bathroom, looking at both of them.

Dexter asked the calmly responding Emily:

“…Really? You asked a fortune from an undercover cop?”

“Yes, really.”

As the still expressionless Emily nodded in confirmation, Dexter couldn’t help but chuckle.

The officer who arrested Emily must have been just as dumbfounded as Dexter.

“That’s wild.”

Just as Dexter was about to say something more to Emily:

-Officer Hughes, Officer Hughes. Warden calling.

Hearing the call from his radio, Dexter frowned and grabbed the radio on his shoulder.

“Officer Hughes reporting, all clear.”

After responding to the radio, Dexter scratched his chin and said:

“They never call when I’m free, but always when I’m in the middle of something. Tsk.”

Clicking his tongue, Dexter gave a quick wave to the two and disappeared toward the warden’s office. Jesse approached Emily and asked:

“How much did you hear?”

“Of what?”

Jesse looked around nervously and said:

“My conversation with De—I mean, Officer Hughes.”

“From the part where Officer Hughes said you were swinging fists at him.”

“Oh, really? That’s a relief.”

“What’s the relief?”

Emily stared at Jesse with wide, questioning eyes, and Jesse carefully avoided her gaze.

‘I can’t lie to this one.’

“I was worried you might have heard me arguing with Officer Hughes.”

“Are you and Officer Hughes not getting along?”

“A-a little bit?”

Despite Jesse’s trembling voice, Emily recalled her impression of Dexter with her usual cold expression.

“I think he’s handsome.”

“What?”

“Officer Hughes is good-looking, isn’t he?”

It was the first time Emily had shown such a reaction in front of Jesse, given her usually emotionless demeanor.

“Well, yes, but… Emily, you know inmates and guards shouldn’t have, you know, deep relationships, right?”

“What’s a deep relationship?”

“You know… what people do at night.”

Jesse answered with a flushed face, and Emily thought for a moment before confidently replying:

“Oh, theft?”

“No! What theft?”

Jesse frowned at the bizarre answer, and Emily replied matter-of-factly:

“Theft happens at night.”

Jesse was about to say something more but decided to let it go after Emily’s brazen response.

“Sure, whatever… theft happens at night. Anyway, don’t get too close to Officer Hughes.”

“Why not?”

“He’s taken.”

Emily tilted her head in confusion at Jesse’s smiling face.

“If he’s taken, why are you smiling?”

“…I can smile if I want to! Come on, let’s go. Someone’s getting released today, so we need to get some farewell drinks from Marcy.”

Just as Jesse was heading to the common room, excited about tasting Marcy’s alcohol after a long time, Emily said in a small voice:

“That alcohol wasn’t very good.”

Jesse, who had been smiling brightly, suddenly turned serious, whipped her head around to look at Emily, and said:

“How do you know what it tastes like? You haven’t even been at Honeygood for a month.”

“…Oh.”

Emily froze with her mouth open, realizing her slip of the tongue.

“So it really was you who stole it?!”

Jesse was pleased that her theory was correct but also bewildered, so she grabbed Emily by both shoulders and shook her.

Emily reluctantly nodded in response to Jesse’s forceful questioning.

“Yes.”

“Why, why did you return it after stealing it?”

When the flustered Jesse asked again, Emily answered immediately without hesitation:

“I thought the alcohol would be delicious. But it wasn’t.”

“It’s not about the taste!!”

It’s alcohol that inmates drink secretly when they’re desperate for a drink or when there’s something to celebrate in prison.

Naturally, the moment of drinking alcohol is more important than its taste.

‘And she’s sitting there giving taste reviews?’

If other inmates found out about this, Emily would truly get beaten up and end up with something broken. Then Emily would need to be reassigned to a different room, and Jesse would lose the roommate she had just become close with.

‘Do you know how hard it is to find a roommate who’s not interested in my body!’

Recently, the lesbians in Medium Security Facility Block 2 had been eyeing Jesse’s body, which was annoying.

Especially during showers, some inmate would always slap her chest or buttocks, which was very troublesome.

‘I don’t know why they’re all over me when I’m nothing special.’

Jesse pouted, sighed once, and then said to Emily:

“Keep this a secret, okay? It won’t end with just a punch from Marcy like last time.”

“I don’t like getting hit either.”

“So, shh. When we have the release party, act like you’re tasting the alcohol for the first time. Got it?”

“Yes.”

Looking at Emily, who despite her obedient response was prone to causing trouble, Jesse scratched her head vigorously.

“Is this how Dexter feels?”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing, never mind.”

Jesse, who suddenly found herself responsible for Emily’s actions, let out a deep sigh.